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One source said all the major conferences are within $500,000 of each other, hovering around the $20 million mark per year in annual per-school payout. However, estimates for a future Big Ten have gone as high as $40 million per school when its primary TV rights are renegotiated by 2016.

The guy may be a jerk; however, he brings up some good facts (in his prediction here):

Whether more realignment happens at the highest level will depend on a court in North Carolina. The schools at the Big East/Conference USA/Mountain West level will continue to play musical chairs because that's what they do, but we're talking about the big-money leagues here. The ACC sued Maryland in court in Guilford County to ensure the school will pay all of the league-mandated $50 million buyout before it leaves for the Big Ten. These liquidated damages clauses are notoriously difficult to enforce because the aggrieved party (the ACC) must prove it was actually damaged. (And considering ACC officials sang the praises of new 14th member Louisville less than a week after Maryland announced its move, proving that might be tough.)
This is why the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 have Grant of Rights agreements that bind them together. Schools must pledge their television rights to the league for the length of their media deal. If a school leaves, the league retains the ability to sell the television rights for that school's home games. One former conference bigwig described the Grant of Rights this way recently: "It's like telling someone they can marry my wife, but I'm the only one allowed to sleep with her." Why didn't the ACC do that? Because all the schools wouldn't agree to it. In fact, Maryland and Florida State voted against the $50 million buyout. If that buyout isn't upheld or Maryland is allowed to negotiate it down to a much smaller number, then Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany will essentially have a green light to try to poach two more schools in large, untapped-by-the-Big Ten television markets. The fate of the ACC would be in Delany's hands. If he grabbed two ACC schools, the SEC likely would follow suit. If the Big 12 felt insecure about only having 10 members, it might also join the fray. If the buyout holds at $50 million, then the incentive for anyone else to leave drops considerably.

Well the guy isn't a total jerk, he also had this prediction:

Urban Meyer and Ohio State will dominate the Big Ten -- and this time it'll count. No one else in the Big Ten has offered any proof that they can recruit at the level required to compete against Meyer. While everyone else in the league tries to build a nice little team that might make the Rose Bowl, Meyer is trying to build a monster that can compete against Alabama. The defense will be young, but the schedule is manageable. Another undefeated season is a distinct possibility. So too is the possibility that the Buckeyes' schedule gets no respect for a second consecutive year. Ohio State needs Sonny Dykes to make a splash at Cal -- the Buckeyes' best out-of-conference opponent -- and Wisconsin and Michigan to have otherwise-great seasons.

The guy may be a jerk; however, he brings up some good facts (in his prediction here):

Whether more realignment happens at the highest level will depend on a court in North Carolina. The schools at the Big East/Conference USA/Mountain West level will continue to play musical chairs because that's what they do, but we're talking about the big-money leagues here. The ACC sued Maryland in court in Guilford County to ensure the school will pay all of the league-mandated $50 million buyout before it leaves for the Big Ten. These liquidated damages clauses are notoriously difficult to enforce because the aggrieved party (the ACC) must prove it was actually damaged. (And considering ACC officials sang the praises of new 14th member Louisville less than a week after Maryland announced its move, proving that might be tough.)
This is why the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 have Grant of Rights agreements that bind them together. Schools must pledge their television rights to the league for the length of their media deal. If a school leaves, the league retains the ability to sell the television rights for that school's home games. One former conference bigwig described the Grant of Rights this way recently: "It's like telling someone they can marry my wife, but I'm the only one allowed to sleep with her." Why didn't the ACC do that? Because all the schools wouldn't agree to it. In fact, Maryland and Florida State voted against the $50 million buyout. If that buyout isn't upheld or Maryland is allowed to negotiate it down to a much smaller number, then Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany will essentially have a green light to try to poach two more schools in large, untapped-by-the-Big Ten television markets. The fate of the ACC would be in Delany's hands. If he grabbed two ACC schools, the SEC likely would follow suit. If the Big 12 felt insecure about only having 10 members, it might also join the fray. If the buyout holds at $50 million, then the incentive for anyone else to leave drops considerably.

Well the guy isn't a total jerk, he also had this prediction:

Urban Meyer and Ohio State will dominate the Big Ten -- and this time it'll count. No one else in the Big Ten has offered any proof that they can recruit at the level required to compete against Meyer. While everyone else in the league tries to build a nice little team that might make the Rose Bowl, Meyer is trying to build a monster that can compete against Alabama. The defense will be young, but the schedule is manageable. Another undefeated season is a distinct possibility. So too is the possibility that the Buckeyes' schedule gets no respect for a second consecutive year. Ohio State needs Sonny Dykes to make a splash at Cal -- the Buckeyes' best out-of-conference opponent -- and Wisconsin and Michigan to have otherwise-great seasons.

for a 14 team schedule using 2 7 team divisions, i would schedule as such.

you play 6 games in your division (3 home 3 road)

you play 3 games out of your division. determine this on an annual basis so that the top teams must all play each other (and the weaker teams get a chance to beat another weaker team and rebuild as a program). specifically the top team in the legends and leaders should have to play the top three teams in the other division. the worst team in the division would get the three worst teams for the other division.

if 9 conference games can't work yet, i would rather skip a division school based on strength of schedule (5 division and keep 3 cross division).

this gets us the most $ and the best matchups and the most BCS points if we needed them before it became a moot point.

I dont really like the idea of rigging the schedules to be easier for [Mark May]ty teams. seems like it would make it harder for the conference to land teams in the title game and increase the frequency of teams like 90's northwesterns winning the BIG by ducking the best teams.

3) the Big Ten and Pac-12 have Grant of Rights agreements that bind them together. Schools must pledge their television rights to the league for the length of their media deal.

Click to expand...

...and the SEC doesn't. Is there anyone who thinks the SEC is less stable than the Big 12?

Also the B1G doesn't have a GOR to keep schools from leaving, it has a GOR to provide content for the BTN. Was the Big Ten more in danger of losing any teams prior to 2007 (when the GOR was being put together)?

While Staples correctly identifies the conferences that have GORs his analysis of why they do isn't overly accurate.

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